By Team InsideIIM

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There is a lot of glamour attached to consulting. Most queries on our helpline and on our facebook page are around people wanting to know whether their profile is suited to get a shortlist from the top consulting firms. Consulting has been among the top 2 most preferred career domains for two years in succession as per the InsideIIM Recruitment Survey.

It also has an halo effect because not everyone gets into a top consulting firm. Most top consulting firms visit a handful of campuses and only make offers to a chosen few.

General Management roles are fast becoming popular across most campuses. They not only offer fair compensation but are also provide stability. Most of the companies help one get experience across various sectors and there is a a lot of flexibility to choose or change a domain of one's choice even two years after graduation. Leadership programmes of companies are some of the most sought after roles.

Let us see how students from top schools in India have voted to confer the most preferred firm tag. The survey is based on responses of 960 people.

Method

The class of 2014 (who selected Consulting as their preferred domain) and Post-MBA professionals (who are working in this domain) were asked about their preferences about working in each company on a scale of ‘Most Desirable’, ‘Highly Desirable’, ‘I’m Confused’, ‘I do not wish to apply’ and ‘I have never heard of this company before’. A mean score was calculated where Most Desirable is scored as 5 and I have never heard of this company is scored 0.

MBA aspirants and 1st Year MBA students – Class of 2015 were asked to simply rank their top 5 companies. A weighted scored was calculated assigning weights of 10,6,4,2,1 for the 5 ranks.

Consulting

Post MBA Industry Professionals

The big news this year is the leap of Mckinsey to the pole position from No. 4 last year (See here). BCG retains the top spot too but has to share it with Mckinsey. TSMG and Oliver Wyman were added this year to the Survey and have entered the top 10 at the expense of Ernst & Young and Frost & Sullivan. As a team we believe that industry professionals' vote is extremely important as they have first hand experience of working not only in their own company but they are up to date with the news across companies in their domain.

Class of 2014

There are two big movements we wish to talk about. This is the graduating class and the results do have immediate implications. BCG has been knocked off its perch by Mckinsey & Co. In 2012 (See here), BCG had a clear margin over Mckinsey & Co. but this time round Mckinsey & Co. has clawed its way to the top with a slight edge. The second interesting point is the dramatic entry of Tata Strategic Management Group to the top 5. We have added it to our list only this year. Booz & Co. and AT Kearney have been beaten by Accenture to enter top 5. We must admit that the results are not in line with expectations and a lot has changed in 12 months.

Class of 2015 and MBA Aspirants

The top 5 remain the same as last year. The only change is that Booz & Co. gains a position and Deloitte comes down. It is interesting that Deloitte is so much more popular among the first year students and aspirants than other firms like AT Kearney, Accenture etc. As is the case with Banking, there is a lot of brand power at play here.

General Management

The Top 5

Tata Adminstrative Services maintains a lead and that too by a fair margin across all categories of respondents. This was the case in 2012 as well. GE has a stellar reputation among Industry professionals. Aditya Birla group and Mahindra are consistently in the top 3. Reliance Industries generates a lot of interest among the first year students and aspirants but loses steam as students move ahead and become professionals. Siemens has lost a few places this year as compared to last year (See here)

Summary

Top Consulting and General Management firms continued to recruit in good numbers even during the slowdown and will always be preferred recruiters in the overall scheme of things. Firms like BCG, Mckinsey & Co. and TAS have maintained their top positions over two years and that tells you how valued they are on campuses and in the industry. A lot of consulting firms are very selective about campuses they go to and are bound to suffer in such a survey. However, there is an halo effect around some names that still manages to prop up their rankings. Top firms will always attract top talent but for many firms it is the fight for the chosen few among the best.